Manchester United v Schalke Champions League: Key battles

Manchester United take on Schalke at Old Trafford in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tonight, here Metro outlines the key battles and stats for the game.

Schalke’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will once again attempt to keep Manchester United out (Pic: Getty)Big Man blocking Dim view:

With a decent first-leg cushion and Chelsea to come on Sunday, United will ring the changes tonight. That means Dimitar Berbatov , who has 22 goals this season, will get the chance to find his form after a run of just two in 13 games. Javier Hernandez could have helped himself to a hat-trick in the first leg but for the brilliance of highly-rated Germany keeper Manuel Neuer , who has been linked with a move to United. The likelihood is he will stay in the Bundesliga with a switch to Bayern Munich favoured.

Home Front:

Manchester United have not lost in any competition at Old Trafford for more than a year. Their last home defeat was 13 months ago when they were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea – who seek to repeat that win on Sunday and throw the Premier League title race wide open in the process. Sir Alex Ferguson won’t risk Wayne Rooney for tonight’s tussle and other key players will also be saved for the weekend. That means Darren Fletcher is likely to play some part as he battles back from the affects of a virus.